Combat
In the Siege of Sanjō Palace, Nobuyori and his Minamoto allies abducted the former emperor Emperor Go-Shirakawa and Emperor Nijō and set fire to the Palace.
Minamoto no Yoshitomo and Fujiwara no Nobuyori placed Go-Shirakawa under house arrest and killed his retainer, the scholar Fujiwara no Michinori. Nobuyori had himself declared imperial chancellor, and began to see his plans for political power fall into place.
However, the Minamoto did not plan well enough, militarily, and were unprepared to defend the city against Kiyomori's return. Upon his return, the Minamoto made no decisive moves and hesitated.
Kiyomori, who returned to Kyōto, offered to surrender to Nobuyori. However, this was a plot. While Nobuyori was careless, Kiyomori let the Emperor Nijō and the former emperor Go-shirakawa escape to Kiyomori's side.
Kiyomori received an imperial grant from the Emperor for attacking Yoshitomo and Nobuyori. Taira no Shigemori (the eldest son of Kiyomori) led 3,000 cavalry and attacked the Imperial Palace where Yoshitomo and Nobuyori were holed up. Nobuyori ran away immediately, but Minamoto no Yoshihira (the eldest son of Yoshitomo) fought back and a fierce battle ensued. Yoshihira fought hard and chased Shigemori within the Imperial Palace.
The Taira force retreated and the Minamoto force left the Imperial Palace in pursuit. This was a plot of Kiyomori. A detached Taira force occupied the Imperial Palace. The Minamoto force was cut off from the way of retreat. The Minamoto force charged at Rokuhara of a base of Kiyomori. It became a fierce battle, but finally the Minamoto force fled in disorderly retreat.
Read more about this topic: Heiji Rebellion
Famous quotes containing the word combat:
“The combat ended for want of combatants.”
—Pierre Corneille (1606–1684)
“In case I conk out, this is provisionally what I have to do: I must clarify obscurities; I must make clearer definite ideas or dissociations. I must find a verbal formula to combat the rise of brutality—the principle of order versus the split atom.”
—Ezra Pound (1885–1972)
“In any combat between a rogue and a fool the sympathy of mankind is always with the rogue.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)